Here is Senator Shelley Moore Capito’s statement yesterday afternoon taking some credit for the return of the NIOSH workers in Morgantown:

As Chairman of the Labor-H @AppropsGOP Subcommittee, I was proud to advocate for the critical work that’s done at NIOSH in Morgantown, WV.

My understanding from @SecKennedy is that over 100 Morgantown employees will be returning to the job permanently.

The health and safety of…

— Shelley Moore Capito (@SenCapito) May 13, 2025

Additionally, Capito’s nephew, WV2 Congressman Riley Moore, also took credit for the reinstatement:

.@RileyMooreWV just announced that about 100 @NIOSH employees in Morgantown will be coming back to work... Moore said it on @WVMetroNews Talkline... he credits state's congressional delegation.... more coming up @WVMetroNews

— Jeff Jenkins (@JeffJenkinsMN) May 13, 2025

Before we get too excited that Secretary Kennedy and the Trump administration have seen the light on cutting critical NIOSH workers (urged on by Arch Moore’s descendants), we ought to look at an important legal ruling by a federal judge that also happened yesterday. From the Associated Press:

Judge orders restoration of jobs in health program for coal miners in West Virginia https://t.co/hlqhMaD5M4

— John Raby (@jrabyap) May 14, 2025

From that AP story:

Berger said the defendants “lack the authority to unilaterally cancel” the Coal Workers Health Surveillance Program within NIOSH. She ordered both the surveillance and job transfer programs to be restored, saying that “there be no pause, stoppage or gap in the protections and services” mandated by the federal Mine Safety and Health Act.

The lawsuit was brough by a mine electrician, Harry Wiley, and his lawyer was Sam Brown Petsonk. Importantly, this court decision got far less media attention yesterday than the Trump NIOSH reinstatement story did. (For example, the Wheeling Intelligencer covered the Morgantown reinstatements but ignored the judge’s ruling.) I also cannot find a precise timeline for which came first but that may have been irrelevant to the administration's decision to backtrack on NIOSH. By acting first, or quickly acting after the court decision came down, the administration took control of the story: they became the “good guys” reacting to worker concerns and congressional pressure to do the right thing instead of what they most likely are -- indifferent politicians that care about worker safety only when it is convenient or when the courts force them to be concerned.

I think this story needs a lot more investigation. I hope there is a reporter out there working on it.